CHANGING PATTERNS OF LAND-USE BY PLIOPLEISTOCENE HOMINIDS IN THE LAKETURKANA BASIN

The first step in a behavioural ecological study of stone-tool-using h ominids involves the description of the character of lithic discard an d the context within which the discard occurred. We examine and put in to paleogeographic context the known archaeological traces in the Turk ana Basin at three successive time intervals: 2.3 million years ago (M a), 1.9-1.8 Ma, and 1.7-1.5 Ma. At 2.3 Ma, hominid use of stone appear s restricted to small areas on the landscape where many resources such as water, shade, and stone are juxtaposed. In contrast, archaeologica l traces at 1.6 Ma are found in a variety of settings, which may; in p art be explained by the paleogeographic changes taking place at that t ime. This change coincides with the emergence of Homo erectus. The hom inid fossil and archaeological records are shown to complement each ot her in the generation of ecological hypotheses of H. erectus behaviour .